Structural Biology Core

Technologies and support for all aspects of structural biology

The Structural Biology Core provides access to a variety of technologies to support all aspects of modern structural biology and is open to users from both dedicated structural labs as well as biologists wishing to incorporate structural studies into their projects.

We aim to provide researchers with tools and expertise to allow imaging of biological samples from atomic to cellular scale primarily using X-ray crystallography or electron microscopy and integrate computational approaches where required.

What we offer

Techniques

  • Electron microscopy
  • Cryo electron microscopy
  • Room temperature electron microscopy
  • Protein Crystallography
  • X-Ray Scattering Approaches (BioSAXS)
  • general imaging of a wide range of biological samples, whether cryo-preserved or fixed and stained using conventional methods.

Equipment

  • ThermoFisher Scientific Glacios 2 microscope with a Falcon 4i direct detector and Selectris energy filter  
  • JEOL JEM-1400 Plus transmission electron microscope equipped with Gatan OneView camera.    
  • FEI Vitrobot automated vitrification unit (Vitrobot mark IV).  
  • Various supporting equipment, including a glow-discharge unit, carbon and metal coaters, ultramicrotome and negative stain facilities.  
  • Extensive computer resources for data processing and storage.  
  • ARI Gryphon crystallisation robotics.
  • SPT Labtech Mosquito Crystallisation Robotics.

Training and support

  • full training to users wishing to use the equipment or carry out time-limited, defined projects to requirement.
  • advice on the best way to use computational / predictive approaches such as AlphaFold.
  • advice and assistance with all aspects of the typical structural biology workflow, from grant applications to paper preparation.
  • to arrange and organise access to large-scale facilities such as the crystallography and solution scattering beamlines at Diamond Light Source, and high-end microscopes at eBIC and SCMI.

Resources

Full details of the what we offer, along with a range of structural biology resources, are available on the Structural Biology Core - Sharepoint.

Access to the Core

You must first register a project with the DRP-HCB. If you would like to discuss your requirements in more detail before registering a project, you can contact the Structural Biology Core Manager directly.

Once a project is registered with the DRP-HCB users should contact the SBC Manager us as much in advance of commencing a project as possible. This allows us to provide best advice on project feasibility, timescales and likely costs.

Core Manager:  Martin Singleton
Structural Biology Technologist: Harshwardhan Poddar
EM Technologist: Fernanda Cisneros Soberanis 

Contact details

Address

University of Edinburgh
Kings Buildings
Max Born Crescent
Edinburgh
EH9 3BF

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